Trump unleashes on Twitter following indictments: calls Papadopoulos a ‘Liar’

President Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday calling George Papadopoulos—former Trump foreign policy adviser—a “young, low level volunteer” and a “liar.”

The Twitter attack, which also blasted the “fake media” and Trump’s Democratic nemeses, came on the heels of Monday’s indictment against three aides to Trump’s campaign.

As part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements and “material omissions” to the FBI about communications with allies of the Russian government, including a professor who offered him “dirt” on Trump’s election opponent, Hillary Clinton.

In an early morning tweet, Trump downplayed the idea that there was any coordination with Russia, saying “the Fake News is working overtime.”

Attempting to distance himself from Papadopoulos, Trump tweeted:

The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was "no collusion" and events mentioned took place long before he…

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election escalated on Monday with the unsealing of an indictment and plea deal with a foreign policy advisor who lied about meeting with Russian official.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime business associate Rick Gates were indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 charges, including conspiracy against the U.S., announced by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office Monday.

Though the story of a sealed indictment was breaking news on Friday, the indictment was unsealed Monday upon Manafort and Gates being told they were to surrender to law enforcement.

Both men entered a not guilty plea at their arraignments inside a Washington, D.C., federal courtroom on Monday afternoon following their arrest on charges related to conspiracy against the United States and other felonies. The charges are the first from the special counsel investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Appearing before a federal judge Manafort and Gates were charged with a combined 12 counts, including conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.

Prosecutors asked that bond be set at $10 million for Manafort and $5 million for Gates, but said both may be detained at home until they can post bail.

The special counsel’s office considers Manafort a flight risk, lawyers in Mueller’s office argued before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson on Monday afternoon, citing the seriousness of the charges and the extent of Manafort’s ties abroad. The bureau took possession of Manafort’s passport as well on Monday

Manafort and Gates face up to 20 years in prison on conspiracy to launder money charges, which are the result of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election

In addition to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference, in the 2016 election unsealing indictments for Manafort and Gates, former policy adviser to Trump, Papadopoulos admitted he lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.

Entering a guilty plea in Chicago three weeks ago—George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI, according to Mueller’s office. Papadopoulos, actions marks the first criminal count that cites interactions between Trump campaign associates and Russian intermediaries during the campaign.

Former campaign aide George Papadopoulos to Donald Trump has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents working for special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his probe into Russia’s election meddling.

Papadopoulos misrepresented “the timing, extent and the nature of his relationship and interactions with certain foreign nations whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials’ according to charges cited in the unsealed indictment.

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a Monday White House Briefing—downplayed the role of Papadopoulos—stating that Papadopoulos’ campaign role was an “extremely limited” volunteer role. Photo Credit: Politico

Debunking Sander’s claim—President Trump referred to Papadopoulos as one of his advisers in a March 2016 meeting with The Washington Post editorial board, during which he described Papadopoulos as “an excellent guy.”

George Papadopoulos (3rd L) appears in a photograph released on Donald Trump’s social media accounts with a headline stating that the scene was of his campaign’s national security meeting in Washington, D.C. U.S. on March 31, 2016 and published April 1, 2016. Social Media/Handout via REUTERS

A potential bombshell in the indictment—Papadopoulos is described in court documents as a “proactive cooperator,” drawing speculation that he agreed to wear a wire in the months following his arrest.

Prosecutors noted in the court documents that although Papadopoulos agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation, “public disclosure” of his appearance would undermine his ability to serve as a proactive cooperator.”

The term ‘proactive cooperation’ could mean Papadopoulos was engaged in active cooperation, such as wearing a wire or monitoring email communications to obtain more information.

It could also be speculated that special counsel Mueller’s decision to make Papadopoulos’ plea public, could indicate that the FBI have gathered sufficient information in the investigation.

Papadopoulos, a Chicago-based international energy lawyer was reportedly supervised by White House senior aide Sam Clovis and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Papadopoulos was informed as early as April 2016 that the Russians had “dirt” on Clinton and “thousands of emails.” In July, Trump would call on Russia to find the emails missing from Clinton’s server, but he said that the comment was meant in jest.

Mueller’s investigation would reveal in the indictment “in total, more than $75 million—which flowed through offshore accounts” with felony charges and possible prison sentences for key members of the Trump campaign. Manafort’s lavish lifestyle was described as hidden overseas wealth while residing in the United States.

Manafort laundered more than $18 million, which the charges in the indictment charges him with concealing the money from the federal government.

Manafort and Gates generated tens of millions of dollars as a result of their lobbying work for the Ukraine. Both men hid the payments, from 2006 through 2016, by laundering the money through scores of U.S. and foreign corporations, partnerships and banks, according to the charges.

Their work included lobbying “multiple Members of Congress and their staffs about Ukraine sanctions” and “the validity of Ukraine elections,” according to the charges in the indictment.

From 2008 to 2014, Manafort wired $12 million to vendors for personal items, including $5.4 million on home improvements in the Hamptons, $934,350 to an antique rug store in Virginia, $520,440 to a clothing store in Beverley Hills and $655,500 for landscaping in New York, according to the indictment.

He also spent millions more on homes: $3 million on a Brooklyn brownstone; $1.5 million on Soho condo; and $1.9 million on a Virginia house. Manafort used his offshore accounts to directly wire payments for his personal expenses, which allowed him to avoid paying taxes on that income.

The U.S. will seek asset forfeitures of Manafort’s Hamptons home and other New York properties he has invested.

Taking to Twitter on Monday—Trump tweeted about the former campaign chairman’s deeds “years ago,” insisting there was “NO COLLUSION” between his campaign and Russia. Deflecting to the DNC—he added—“Why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?”

In a pair of tweets, the president said the charges against his ex-campaign chief were related to his actions before he “was part of the Trump campaign” and asked “why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????”

“Also, there is NO COLLUSION!” he tweeted.

Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????

Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 and was promoted campaign manager after President Trump fired Corey Lewandowski. Gates was hired later as Trump’s deputy.

The separate charges against Manafort and Gates contend the men acted as unregistered foreign agents for Ukrainian interests. The indictments also include several other financial counts involving tens of millions of dollars routed through offshore accounts.

Manafort and Gates both under house arrest, are the first known people to be charged. Papadopoulos is the first to plead guilty in the investigation by special counsel Mueller into the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia and Moscow’s interference in the election last year.

Apple Pledges $350 billion Investment in US economy Over Next Five Years

Apple is about to give the U.S. economy a huge boost in the form of a $350 billion five-year investment. As part of that, it will commit $55 billion this year alone and plans on adding 20,000 new jobs over that time frame. Following in the footsteps of Amazon, it also plans to add a new campus somewhere in the U.S. this year.

There is a lot of news here. Let’s start with the big-picture investment of $350 billion, which Apple says does not include ongoing tax payments, the tax revenues generated from employees’ wages or the sale of Apple products.

It will, however, involve taxes on repatriation of some of Apple’s cash reserves, which are currently in the $256 billion range. It anticipates $38 billion coming from repatriation taxes, but much of it will be capital expenditures on the part of the company.

For starters, there will be $30 billion, which will help fund a number of projects, including building the aforementioned new campus. The plan is for this to initially house technical support for customers. Apple says it will announce the location of this new facility later this year, with a plan to make the building run on 100 percent renewable energy sources.

But wait, it’s not done yet. It will also invest $10 billion of that money in new data centers in the U.S., adding to the seven already in operation or planned. There is a new one coming in Iowa and they broke ground on one in Reno just today, in addition to data centers already in operation in North Carolina, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. (This number includes co-location facilities not owned and operated by Apple.)

Apple announced that it planned several investments that will contribute more than $350 billion to the United States economy over the next five years. (Photo/NationalTurk).

The company also plans to expand the advanced manufacturing fund it started last spring, from $1 billion to $5 billion. The idea is to bring advanced manufacturing jobs to the heartland and it is already funding projects in Kentucky and rural Texas.

Finally, Apple plans to expand its coding initiatives, helping students and teachers from K-12 and at community colleges across the country learn valuable coding skills.

While there is clearly a large public relations element to this announcement, the amount of money and investment involved from a private company here is just staggering and should help create new jobs, stimulate local economies and help educate students for the next generation of jobs. Hard not to like that.

Amazon Reveals ‘20 Cities’ That Could Be The Home Of Its Next Headquarters

Amazon has revealed 20 cities that could be the next home of its second North American headquarters, dubbed HQ2.

The candidates, selected out of 238 applicants, will move to the next round of Amazon’s selection process, the company said Thursday. Amazon will make a final decision on the site of its next headquarters this year.

Amazon said it will work with each city to “dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the company’s hiring plans as well as benefit its employees and the local community.”

Amazon has promised a $5 billion investment and up to 50,000 high-paying jobs to the city that wins its selection process.

“Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” said Holly Sullivan, head of public policy for Amazon. “Through this process, we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”

Former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Mike Tyson, and his two business partners plan to open a 40-acre marijuana ranch 60 miles southwest of Death Valley National Park. According to mirror.com Tyson Ranch will allow growers to cultivate their crop and there will also be a cultivation school to help growers get the most out of their strains.

The operating company, Tyson Holistic, will employ mainly veterans and bring much needed jobs to the city it’s in.